At Sunday's Television Critics Association press tour, CW President
Mark Pedowitz held court to discuss some hot topics, including clarifying some questions about
"The Vampire Diaries" spinoff. Though the idea of a spinoff about the Original family has been kicking around for a while, Pedowitz said that ultimately, he and Warner Bros. TV President Peter Roth brought the idea to Julie Plec and Kevin Williamson.

"The genesis of that came from a conversation with Warner Bros. and Peter Roth at the time. I'm a big believer if you have something that's working and you can incubate [it], it's a good way to get pilots on the air," Pedowitz told reporters. "Kevin Williamson said 'Let Julie take a run at it, it's her vision.' ... We're basically going to go and focus on the Original family."

As we'll learn in the April 25 episode of "The Vampire Diaries," Klaus (
Joseph Morgan) was one of the founding fathers of New Orleans, making the bustling city the perfect backdrop for a new show. "The [lead] character will be Klaus," Pedowitz confirms. "Hopefully some of his siblings will come along. Klaus is just a great character and the Original family has such great dysfunctional family dynamics, we felt that was a great way to take the show."

Phoebe Tonkin, of course,
will be involved in the spinoff as Hayley -- which would take her
out of contention for "Amazon," the Wonder Woman origin story pilot that The CW is currently casting. "At the moment Phoebe will be coming on board to the spinoff," Pedowitz says, praising her work on "The Secret Circle." "We wanted to have her on The CW family. At the moment we haven't thought about her in terms of Wonder Woman, but we have thought of her for the spinoff."

It hasn't yet been determined whether "The Originals" will include flashbacks. Pedowitz says that the intention is to set it mostly in contemporary New Orleans. While, tonally, it will fit with "The Vampire Diaries," the New Orleans setting will give it a new different flavor.